Tension
by the jingle-jangle morning
Summary: AU Schoolfic. Star pupil Sasuke & slacker Suigetsu are polar opposites, brought together by the principal's latest buddy scheme. While Suigetsu makes it his mission to irritate Sasuke, Sasuke suffers a personal dilemma. What is it about Suigetsu? SasuSui
1. Trying

**Brand new SasukeXSuigetsu story. Because for some reason, I love this pairing! They just go so well together. Contains yaoi, mild violence, swearing. **

**I don't own Naruto. **

**Enjoy!**

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SUIGETSU

"Right, last one to the car foots my bar bill!" I hollered. I leapt over a dumpster, Karin hot on my heels and we headed straight towards the Chevy Corvette we'd 'found' the other week. We would just use it for cruising around in, or at least until I crashed it beyond repair. Jugo leapt over the bonnet shouting 'shotgun' as if his life depended on it. I skidded to a halt by the driver's door, beating Karin by half a metre. That meant she got the back seat AND she'd have to get the drinks in.

"Sucks to be you," I smirked as I held the door open for her so she could scramble inelegantly into the backseat. She gave me the evils then wiggled her hot pant-clad ass in my face.  
"Whatever, slag," I rolled my eyes and jumped in the driver's seat, jamming it in gear and revving the engine unnecessarily.  
"I don't see we why I don't get to drive. I've never crashed before and I'm way less likely to get us stopped by the filth," Karin grumbled. She childishly kicked me in the back.  
"Because, slag, you drive like someone's nan," I replied, reaching for my drink and taking a large gulp.  
"Well, bastard, you drink like someone's gramps who's teeth have all fallen out," she countered. I turned round and bared my sharp teeth at her in a broad grin.  
"Watch the road, you fucking douchebag or you'll kill us all!" Karin yelled.

Jugo rarely joins in our stupid arguments, but he does know when enough's enough. A quick glare was all it took to silence us. Fine, I thought. And I slammed my foot on the gas, racing through the projects to the shocked and exhilarated outbursts of my friends and my own inane laughter. I swung the car round a corner far too fast so the tail end flew out into the middle of the road. Sauntering across the road without looking was a familiar figure. Shit. He's close. I jumped on the breaks and the Vette squealed to a halt.

"Oi Kisame-senpai!" I yelled through the open window, "Didn't anyone teach you road safety! I coulda killed ya!"  
"I'd've been fine if you didn't drive like a nutter," he grinned a shark-like grin, not remotely bothered by his recent brush with death, "Speaking of which, have you even got a licence?"  
"Nope," I smirked, "Never stopped me,"  
"Nice automobile anyway" he winked and peered into the car, noticing Karin and Jugo, "Shouldn't you kids be in school?"  
"Shhh," I said casually. I realised I was blocking the road, when the vehicle behind me leant on its horn. It was probably some thug or tough guy from the neighbourhood. I would have to move quick before the driver got out and twatted me one.  
"Nice chatting, Kisama*, but we gotta dash!" I grinned, revving the engine and shooting off to the screech of wheel-spin.  
"Oi, don't call me that, you little shit!" Kisame yelled after me and I reciprocated with a rude hand gesture out the car window.

"Don't you think you should be nicer to your senpai?" Karin asked.  
"I guess. But it's all banter, right? Hey, do you guys wanna go to school? We could make it for first period and we haven't been for a bit." I said.  
"What's this? Is _Suigetsu_ getting all studious?" Karin teased, "Nah, we might as well. If we don't go, we won't pass this year and then we'll have to wait even longer to graduate,"

And with that indisputable logic, I did a questionably legal U-turn and headed off for school. We drove past Kiri High School on the way and I resorted to honking the horn unnecessarily to a chorus of jeers from Kiri students. Karin, laughing from the backseat, egged me on in my attempt at annoying our old high school until our former classmates began to chase after the Corvette. I was just hoping to god that none of them recognised it. We beat a hasty retreat by zooming off once again, this time heading for Konoha in the slightly classier part of town.

We marched into school just as the bell rang and split up for first period. Karin and I had the same, while Jugo headed off in the opposite direction.

"C'mon slag. Let's get going," I said to Karin, dodging the kick she swung my way in her dangerous looking hooker boots. I'd just settled myself into my seat in the back and avoided getting into a glaring contest with any of the Konoha boys, when the teacher called me and Karin out as well as a bunch of other kids.

"You're wanted in the principal's office,"

Dog-breath Inuzuka started a round of 'oohhhs' but stopped quickly when I beat him about the head with my schoolbag on the way past.  
"Ouch! Asshole!" he yelled, but I was already down the corridor. I shrugged at Karin. What did they want us in the head's office for, I wondered. I could probably guess if I really put my mind to it but there was no way they could prove we did all that shit. And what about the other kids. We knocked on the door of the office, waited for a few seconds before hearing a 'come in'. Once inside, I noticed the busty blonde principal, Tsunade talking to someone with dark hair.

"Have a seat, guys," she offered and I sat down next to the dark-haired kid. I recognised him as the Uchiha prodigy - Sasuke. Now I was confused. I'd never spoken to the kid in my life, let alone beat him up.

"Not to be rude, Ms. Tsunade," I said rudely, "But what exactly are we doing here?"  
"You are here, Suigetsu, because I think you will all benefit from taking part in a new scheme I have devised," she said with a smile. Great. I was being put on a scheme with Uchiha. I sighed audibly.  
"Miss, do I really have to -?"  
"Suigetsu, are you aware that you are failing absolutely everything?" Tsunade asked acidly. Karin rolled her eyes and Sasuke snorted next to me. Oh yeah, I forgot. Genius with a superiority complex.

"Everything?" I asked stupidly. Surely that can't be right. Okay, I wasn't a brilliant student, but still.  
"Yes, Suigetsu, _everything. _For that reason, I want you to take part in a peer mentorship programme. Your partner will be able to help you with schoolwork and any other issues you may have and you can help him with any issues he may have," she said with a grin, "Now, I want each pair to meet three times a week and report to me once a month to let me know how things are going,"

Oh, man. Wish I hadn't even turned up today. Tsunade began reading off a list of names, matching people with one another.

"Karin, you're with Ino," Tsunade said. Karin glared.  
"Unlucky," I smirked, pushing her towards the blonde cheer captain and classic over-achiever.  
"Tenten you're with Naruto," Tsunade continued. Karin's friend Tenten actually growled. I snorted - I could see why the two of them got on so well.

"Sakura, you're with Jugo. I hope you two don't mind, there's a more equal balance with this pair. You're both going to have to help each other,"  
"More you like you both need help," I sniggered. Years of hanging out with Karin had trained my reflexes, so I ducked when Sakura threw a punch. Her fist went through the wall instead, practically demolishing one side of Tsunade's office.  
"I rest my case," I added, in the stunned silence that followed.

"Ah, Suigetsu, how could I forget you with that smart mouth," Tsunade said, ignoring the hole in her office, "You're with Sasuke." Oh god. Uchiha's head is so far up his own ass it came out the other side. I didn't even listen to the rest of Tsunade's speech, I was too busy thinking how awful it would be.

"Thanks guys. Dismissed," Tsunade said with a wave of her hand. I dragged myself to my feet and trudged to the door, letting it bang in Uchiha's face.

* * *

"Right Hozuki, I want to do this about as much as you do, but it seems like we've got no choice, so let's head for an empty classroom, okay?" Uchiha said, when I met him later in the day to begin our peer mentoring sessions. I followed him down the corridor, kicking the occasional locker on the way past. We finally found an empty room that met his standards, so I plonked myself down and put my feet on the desk. Uchiha sat opposite me, spreading a load of papers out in front of him. I swear he only does shit like that to make himself look important.

"So Hozuki, you transferred here last year from Kiri High School," he said. I smirked at his expression of distaste when talking about my old school. He wouldn't survive a day there and he knew it.  
"Or rather," he continued, "You were expelled from Kiri for fighting." I grinned at the memories.  
"A mean feat, at a school where students typically leave with more convictions than qualifications," he noted dryly. I'm not sure but I think this was Uchiha's attempt at humour.

"Yeah okay. So I'm shit. I'm so shit even the dump kicked me out. I don't fit in here - half the kids are terrified of me and the rest are too anal to even look my way. So don't look down your nose at me, pretty boy. I've seen it all before," I said.  
"It's okay. I wasn't looking down on you," Uchiha said in a monotone. And weirdly, I believed him.

Somehow, he coerced me into doing some maths homework. No, I don't know how either. But, as Karin said earlier, if we had to repeat this year, it would take us longer to graduate. It was boring, working out equations. I got most of them wrong, but Sasuke seemed impressed anyway.  
"You're not as thick as I thought, Hozuki. If you paid attention, you'd probably get good grades." I was about to turn round and tell him I didn't give two shits about good grades and punch him in the face, but something made me stop myself at the last minute.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself, Hozuki?" he asked.  
"Uh…okay. What do you want to know?" I replied, nonplussed by his comment.  
"Anything. I have to help you sort your life out, according to the principal. Remember?" he said.

"Right…well. Hozuki Suigetsu at your service. I'm a Kiri boy, born and bred. I know the Mist district hasn't got the best reputation but I'm proud to call it home. It's not nice, but one day I guess things'll be better. I live with my mom and her boyfriend, who's even more of an asshole than you are, in the same building as my best friends; Jugo and Karin and my senpai Kisame - don't tell anyone, but he's mainly up to no good. I work part-time at a sushi bar over here in Konoha - I'm a kitchen boy, so I spend most of my time gutting fish. You want to know about hobbies? I've got lots: I like driving fast cars, pulling pranks, drinking water. Actually, I love water. When we do swimming in gym I love it, but there ain't a swimming pool in the Mist District and I've never been to the beach or nothing. I want to protect my precious people - well, the ones I got left anyway - my mom, Karin…Jugo can look after himself, he's a right beast, you know? So I'll do what I have to, to make sure nothing happens to them, even if….well…you know…." I trailed off. Uchiha's eyebrows were raised. I probably said too much.

"So you'd break the law to protect those you're closest too," he asked. I nodded and after a few seconds pause, he continued, "So would I," Brilliant, we did have something in common, I thought sarcastically. "Your turn," I said.  
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. My family runs Uchiha Groups, and my brother and I are heirs to the business empire. I live in a nice house in Konoha, not far from here. My best friends are Naruto and Sakura - they've been with me even when I've been the world's biggest idiot. As for hobbies, I like going for walks, training and martial arts," he finished. Wow. He was _so _interesting, I thought sarcastically. Typical moody rich kid who thought he was tough because he did karate or whatever.

We got on with more maths homework, Sasuke taught me how to differentiate equations, or something. It was surprisingly not difficult.  
"See, it's really not that complex, Hozuki. Even you can do it," he said, patronisingly. Finally, the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day and more importantly, the end of this pathetic charade I was going through with Sasuke.

"Thanks Uchiha," I said, although I'm not sure why. I packed up my stuff and swung my bag around, goofing off a bit.  
"Are you heading to the parking lot?" he asked. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't expect me to have a car and was only asking to rub it in my face that he was a snobby asshole.  
"Yeah. I am, actually," I said coolly and followed him down the corridor.  
"I gotta drop Karin and Jugo back at the projects, then head to work in _your_ part of town. Another exciting evening of gutting fish awaits me," I said. I deliberately emphasised the 'your'.  
"Hn," was all the response I got. What, did he think the expensive sushi he probably ate grew on trees?

I saw Karin in her mini-shorts and Jugo with his massive build, both looking very cool and badass I might add, leaning against 'our' car, the bright red Corvette.  
Sasuke gestured - "Is that your car?" he said with a touch of surprise.  
"For now," I said cryptically, and gave him a cheeky grin, "Later, Uchiha,"

"Right gang! In!," I yelled, opening up the door so we could all pile in. I put the car in gear, cranked up the music and revved the engine loudly. I checked the rear view mirror to wait for the right moment until I spotted a flashy silver Mazda approaching. Then I pulled out of the parking spot and spun the wheel, as fast as I could. There was a satisfying squeal of breaks as Uchiha skidded to a halt. I gave him another cheeky grin before zooming out of the parking lot, obnoxious music blaring.

"Was that really necessary?" Karin asked, but there was laughter in her voice.  
"Yep," I replied, "He's an asshole. That was fun." What I didn't mention was that I liked his angry reaction. I reckon I could get to like that kid, he'd be fun to wind up. I looked out of the rear view mirror again and saw Uchiha tailgating me, with a pissed off expression on his face. Oh yes, I sniggered to myself, this would be fun.  
"What?" Jugo asked at my laughter.  
"Look out the back," I supplied.  
"Glad to see you got on well with your peer mentor, Sui," said Karin.  
"How're Ino and Sakura? No fun psycho-bitches, I bet," I said. Both of them, it turned out, thought their peer mentoring partner was alright.

Personally, I didn't think I could stand Uchiha, but that didn't stop me spending the whole evening thinking about him while I was disembowelling fish.

* * *

***Kisama is a very rude way of addressing someone in Japanese, basically translating as 'you asshole/bastard'. It also kind of sounds like Kisame, which is why Suigetsu uses it here. **

**Reviews welcome. **


	2. Reluctance

**So here's chapter 2. I'll try and update on Fridays because I have loads of ideas for this story. I've kind of made Sasuke really arrogant in this story and it annoys me but hopefully he isn't too out of character. I also don't want to rush it, so if it feels a little slow, that's why. **

**Enjoy!**

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SASUKE

When principal Tsunade asked me to take part in the peer mentorship programme, I was initially sceptic. Did I really want some emotionally fucked-up weirdo crying all over me? Answer: no. But then she kept going on about all the great qualities I possess that would make me a great peer mentor. And how good it would look on my college application. And how disappointed she was that a trusted member of the student council wouldn't help her. And how I could help another student with my good grades. And how she'd tell Coach Gai that I wasn't interested in extra-curricular activities so there was no point considering me for captain.  
"Alright. I'll do it," I eventually gave in.  
"Brilliant, Sasuke. Because I think you could get a lot out of it as well as helping another student. Maybe if I were to pair you with a light-hearted, carefree individual…" she'd trailed off.

That 'light-hearted, carefree individual' turned out to be a fucking lunatic who cut me up and tried to ram my side door with a stolen vehicle. And he'd thought that was _funny_. To be fair to him, I couldn't be sure that his car was stolen. It just didn't seem very likely that he would own a Chevrolet Corvette, given that he was a high school student and worked in a sushi bar - gutting fish, as he was rather keen to tell me - who came from Kiri and lived in the projects. It was a well known fact that Kiri was a rough, poor neighbourhood of the city, where crime was rife and incomes tended to be low.

I shouldn't be hanging out with him. We had absolutely nothing in common, apart from mutual dislike and annoyance at Tsunade's latest community, friendship and development scheme. And he had really annoyed me. He was quite clearly a mad idiot who had no respect for moral standards whatsoever.

Later, I drove to basketball practice, trying to shake all thoughts of Suigetsu from my mind. Unfortunately, he was persistent. I arrived and headed for the changing rooms where my team-mates were chatting and getting ready for today's practice.

"Evening Uchiha-kun," ever formal, our captain Neji Hyuuga greeted me. I clapped him on the back.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto, my blond best friend called out so I put my bag next to his. Gaara, a recent transfer student from Suna High nodded my way and Kiba Inuzuka, a loud hyperactive boy who reminded me of the dogs he loved, gave me a hug that felt more like a headlock. We made our way to the court, where Lee, an overly keen and talented player was already aiming for the basket. Coach Gai blew his whistle and we lined up. I noticed a vaguely familiar figure in Konoha kit towering over Gai.

"Good evening youthful players!" Gai-sensei began.  
"Good evening Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted enthusiastically.  
"Oh lord, here we go again," whispered Naruto, but thankfully, Gai and Lee didn't go off on some tirade about youth.  
"I'm proud to see you this fine evening, bursting with the flames of youth. Before we begin another wonderful practice session, I'd like to introduce a particularly youthful student, moving up from the second string to Konoha's first team! This is the remarkable Juugo!" he announced and the unfortunate player did a half-assed wave. He really was huge, with spiky orange hair and a calm smiling face.

"Hey, isn't he Sakura's peer mentoring partner?" asked Naruto.  
"Think so," I replied. Naruto and Sakura had somehow also been persuaded to join this ridiculous programme.  
"What's your partner like, by the way?" I asked, as we dribbled balls across the court.  
"She's alright, I suppose. A bit weird, seems to like knives and other weaponry far more than is probably normal. Tenten's her name - apparently she's an old friend of Lee and Neji's. Do you know her?" he said.  
"I don't, no. She sounds good fun," I replied sarcastically, "Mine's called Suigetsu and I think the most complimentary thing I can say about him is I think he's clinically insane. He's a troublemaker and I'm sure he's a criminal. He's quite funny though, if you find nearly causing car accidents amusing,"

Naruto smirked and Coach Gai made us all start shooting baskets. The Juugo kid was good. Then I remembered, Suigetsu had mentioned that the two of them were good friends. Was it concerning that all of his friends required mentorship?

Practice was over and we were soon fighting for hot showers back in the locker room.  
"Well played today, Juugo," I said to the new guy.  
"Yeah, welcome to the squad," Neji chipped in. Juugo grinned. He seemed relatively normal - why couldn't I have had him instead of Suigetsu.

"So, where's it going to be, lads?" Kiba shouted over the din, to try and establish where we were going to go for our post-training meal.  
"Ramen! Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!" Naruto began chanting loudly.  
"We could get a Korean barbeque," suggested Shikamaru, not sounding in the least bit enthused.  
"Let's go for sushi," Neji suggested and this was a popular plan as most of the team seemed to like sushi.  
"Want to come, Juugo?" Neji offered and the tall boy nodded.  
"My friend works in a sushi bar," he observed.  
"Yes. Suigetsu. He guts fish. I know," I said, sounding slightly ruder than I intended.  
"He told you that?" said Juugo sounding surprised.  
"Yes, why?" I asked but he didn't elaborate.  
"So, you up for sushi, Sasuke?" Kiba asked.  
"You know what, how about we go for ramen. I haven't had any for ages," I said, desperate to avoid any possible encounter with Suigetsu. Even though it was extremely unlikely we'd end up in his sushi bar, of all places.  
"Ramen works for me. What do you say, captain?" Kiba said.

Neji agreed and to Naruto's delight we were heading for Ichiraku's - the best ramen bar in town according to Naruto. I was glad to hang out with my friends and eat a bowl of shrimp ramen, until Naruto brought up the inevitable topic of women.  
"So yeah, I reckon Hinata really digs me. She's your cousin, what do you reckon she'd say if I asked her out, Neji?" Naruto chattered.  
"If you value your testicles, I would seriously suggest you don't," Neji pointed out in a monotone.  
"Oh don't be so overprotective, captain Hyuuga," Kiba said, "I heard Ino's single again,"  
"Yeah, well she gets through about man a week, doesn't she?" Shikamaru pointed out.  
"How about you Sasuke? Are you seeing anyone?" Naruto asked.

Am I seeing anyone? Of course I'm not seeing anyone. I have lots of female admirers who seem to all be infatuated with me. To be honest, I've never found a fawning woman attractive.  
"Sasuke, you're an idiot. All of these girls are falling over themselves to date you and you don't pay them any attention," said Naruto.  
"That's because I don't like them. They're annoying," I replied. This was the plain and simple truth. I wasn't particularly interested in girls at the moment. Or rather, I wasn't interested in the kind of girls who threw themselves at me.  
"Man, you are so lucky and you don't even realise it. If I had half as many fangirls as you…." Naruto trailed off, presumably imagining himself in some kind of harem full of stupid girls. I snorted in distaste and went back to my ramen. Frankly, I couldn't see how Naruto could wolf the stuff down with such gusto. I heard his noisy slurping on his seventh bowl and I almost wished we'd gone for sushi after all. Then I thought of Suigetsu's smirking face and gladly picked my chopsticks up again.

"I'm beat!" Naruto announced, chucking his chopsticks down on the table, "You want to walk to the parking lot, Sasuke? I said I'd give Dog-breath a ride home,"  
I agreed and the basketball team left, heading for bus stops or cars. Naruto, Kiba and I walked down the road to the car park where we'd parked earlier. Half the spaces were empty and Naruto could get to his car fine. However, some idiot had parked right in front of my Mazda, blocking me into the space.  
"Awh man, that sucks," Naruto said, "All the spaces must have been filled up when that guy came in,"

I looked at the car blocking me in. It was a red Chevrolet Corvette. Of course it would be. And who did I know who drove a red Chevrolet Corvette?

"Don't worry guys. I know whose car this is and he's done this purely to piss me off. When I see him I'm going to kick his ass," I said. I was angry - why was Hozuki such a dickhead?  
"Who is it? We could key his car if you want. Or hotwire it or bounce it out the way or something," Kiba suggested, trying to be helpful but just sounding bossy, as usual.  
"It's Suigetsu Hozuki, my buddy scheme partner. It's fine, you guys go home," I said and Naruto and Kiba left. I didn't blame them. I certainly wouldn't have waited around a carpark all evening if I had the choice.

What was it about that guy? I'd only known him a few days and already he seemed to love winding me up. I haven't got to react. I won't give him the satisfaction, I thought. That way, he'll get bored soon enough. That was easier said than done when he sauntered into the parking lot about an hour later. When he saw me sitting in my car, his usual smirk threatened to take over his face. He leaned over and rapped on the window.

"Uchiha! That's a surprise. What're you doing here? You're not waiting for me after work, are you sweetie?" he teased. I ignored the fact that, even in jest, he had just called me 'sweetie'.  
"No, Hozuki," I replied coldly, "I was just doing my history essay. You see, my parents are away and my brother has come home from college and invited all his friends over. They are quite loud." Hopefully, my reputation as a good student made this believable enough.  
"So, why are you doing schoolwork in a parking lot? Is this the trick of the trade to those good grades of yours?" Suigetsu smirked. He displayed a row of abnormally pointed teeth. I focussed on these to avoid the temptation to punch him.  
"No Hozuki, I get good grades by working hard, something you might like to try?" I replied coldly. I pressed the button to wind up the electric window again.

He winked at me and grinned wider than ever. "You'll let up soon enough, kid," He sauntered up to his car, beeped the horn a couple of times and screeched out of the parking lot with the tyres squealing behind him. More reservedly, I put the Mazda in gear, followed him out of the parking lot and headed down the road. Hozuki was waiting at the lights, unnecessarily revving his engine. I pulled up alongside him and waited for the lights to turn green.

Uncharacteristically, I floored my accelerator as soon as it was safe to go and the Mazda shot forward, the engine snarling as I kept it in a low gear. Hozuki was right on my wing mirror, smirking all over his face while his Corvette struggled to keep up. One glance at his face made me feel that I had to win this stupid, immature race, so I pushed forward, trying to get as much out of my car as possible. I pulled ahead, little by little but Hozuki was right behind me until we reached the next set of lights. We both screeched to a halt and I looked over at him. He was grinning at me, a challenge. I shook my head, turned left when the lights turned green and headed home.

"PUSSY!" Hozuki yelled after me. I smiled to myself. I could play Suigetsu Hozuki at his own game.

* * *

Reviews are appreciated. :)


	3. Offer

**Tension: Chapter 3 - Offer.**

SUIGETSU

I strolled into my 2nd period Math class a few moments after the bell, fully prepared for forty-five minutes of not listening to the teacher, coming up with smart answers if I was called upon and doodling samurai swords on my notebook. Uchiha was in my class - funny, I'd never noticed him there before.

But then I guess I'd never got my ass handed to me by his Mazda RX-8 before, had I? I was still pretty pissed off about the other night. It wasn't my 'Vette's fault it lost out to a far superior car. If anything, it was impressive how well it did against the Mazda. If we'd had evenly matched cars, Uchiha would have been eating my dust. If I'd been driving a Mazda RX-8.…well, if I'd been driving a Mazda RX-8, I would be too busy being fucking awesome to get into races with the likes of Sasuke Uchiha. Although, lets face it, it wouldn't be quite as good as a Lamborghini Diablo, or a Porsche 911 Turbo or a Porsche Carrera GT or any Porsche, really…. Maybe I'd have to steal a Porsche next time. Nah, too conspicuous.

Point is, cars aside, Uchiha beat me fair and square and I bet that was the first street race that pansy-ass rich boy had ever been in. I'd already annoyed Karin and Jugo enough by complaining about my miserable defeat; they'd called me a sore loser and told me to get over it.

'Suigetsu Hozuki? Are you paying the blindest bit of attention to me?" the teacher shouted out.  
"No," I replied, blandly. I figured honesty was probably the best policy. I saw Uchiha shaking his head a couple of rows in front.  
"Right! In that case, you can tell me the quadratic formula or I'm putting you in detention," the teacher smirked, sounding sure I wouldn't know. Detention would be a pain, I'd be late for work and I couldn't afford to be. If only I actually knew what this formula was. I knew Uchiha had been going on about them in our last peer mentoring session…now if only I could remember. Oh yes!  
"Minus B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus four A C, all over two A," I said in a monotone. At this point, Uchiha turned round to stare at me. The teacher looked pissed, but at least I got to spend my evening cutting up fish instead of doing schoolwork. I raised my eyebrows at Uchiha. What the hell did he want?

The bell rang and Uchiha came over to my desk and looked at me strangely. I packed up my stuff slowly but he still didn't speak.  
"You come here to stare, pretty-boy? This ain't a fuckin' zoo!" I snapped. He made this funny 'hn' noise.  
"Well?" I said rudely.  
"Library," he said simply and walked out the room as if he expected me to follow. Oddly, instead of shouting 'fuck you I won't do what you tell me', I followed him to the library.

"We could work on French if you like," Uchiha said once we'd sat down, making it clear I didn't have any choice in the matter. As it happened, I would rather run myself over with his swanky car than work on French, but I found myself just shrugging."Whatever," I said.

"_Alors_, _qu'est que tu as fait le weekend dernier?" _Uchiha asked in a monotone.  
"_Rien d'interesse, j'etais au boulot. Je vide de poisson pour un restau de sushi. C'est a la merde. Et après j'ai piqué une caisse et a été poursuivi par quelques flics, il etait proche, mais je m'en fous" _I replied in the same monotonous voice, "_Et toi, qu'est que tu as fait?"*  
_We continued this for a few minutes, until I'd exhausted my supply of French rude words and Uchiha had got fed up of listening to my crappy accent. We moved onto grammar. I hated grammar even more than I hated chatting shit in French. Still, Uchiha insisted I learn all about past participles and the present indicative or whatever.  
"What does that word mean?" I asked, pointing to an unfamiliar bit of grammar jargon. Uchiha traced his finger over the page until he found the word I was pointing to.  
"That? It's the imperfect, it means the past tense," he explained. He accidentally brushed his hand against mine. The sudden contact sent shivers up my spine. I looked at his face for a second - his black eyes were as impassive as ever but his gaze faltered and he quickly removed his hand and murmured an apology. It was barely noticeable, but his cheeks coloured slightly. _That_ was interesting.

For a few minutes, we both buried ourselves in our schoolwork, pretending that incident hadn't happened. The library was practically empty so the silence was almost deafening. Suddenly, I was aware of how close I was to Uchiha. We were both hunched over his text book - I'd lost mine a few months ago - so close our elbows were almost bumping. I could hear his quiet, rhythmic breathing. It was quite soothing.

The bell rang soon afterwards, jerking me from my reverie and indicating the end of the school day. I packed up my stuff and waited for Uchiha to do the same.  
"You're better at schoolwork than I thought, Hozuki," he said. This was probably the nearest I'd ever get to a compliment from him.  
"Thanks," I replied, "See you tomorrow?"  
"Sure," he said. He held the library door open for me on our way out.

Weirdly, something inside me told me that I might possibly kind of get to like Uchiha, once I got used to his extremely annoying superiority complex.

Later, Karin and I were cruising around in the Corvette, while Juugo was at b-ball practice. Apparently, he was right in there with Hot-shot Hyuuga and the boys; Naruto, Kiba, that freaky Gaara kid, not to mention my very own Sasuke Uchiha. Karin was driving and we had the music blaring and the windows down, enjoying the balmy evening air and disrupting the neighbourhoods with Karin's horrific taste in music.  
"So, I was thinking of asking Deidara out," she said.  
"Deidara? Are you sure? Isn't he kind of a criminal?" I asked, shocked. Karin shouldn't be dating gangsters. He was an acquaintance of Kisame's who lived a few blocks away in Iwa, a district of the city which had almost as bad a reputation as Kiri's. I hadn't heard much about him, I just knew he ran with one of the city's most dangerous gangs.  
"Uh, Suigetsu, you can hardly talk to anyone about being a criminal. I notice you don't exactly have a healthy respect for the law," Karin retorted sarcastically. I had to admit, she did have a point.

"Ok, ok. But seriously, didn't he get done for blowing up that mall that time? That's dangerous shit Karin, you can't exactly compare that to speeding fines and stealing cars,"  
"That was a long time ago. Plus, nobody proved it was him. 'Sides, he's a nice guy," she replied, stopping at some lights.  
"That doesn't really justify it, does it? I wouldn't advise going out with someone who has that kind of rep, even if he hasn't done time for it. He's a known member of Akatsuki, even the Mist Seven won't mess with them, and you know how tough those guys are. I'm telling you, I wouldn't go there. It's not worth it," I said.  
"Oh yeah? And who do you think I should be dating then?" Karin challenged. Ideally, I wouldn't want her dating anyone, but that was me being protective and older-brotherly, _so_ not welcome in Karin's eyes. We might fight like cat and dog most of the time, but I really cared about Karin.

"Um, what about the guys from our high school? None of them are sociopathic criminals, plus they're rich and classy. Like Naruto, I don't know, is he cute? Or Hyuuga, he's captain of the basketball team, that's gotta count for something? Or maybe that Shikamaru Nara guy, you know the really smart one? I don't know, what kind of things do chicks like you dig? Other than freakishly dangerous gangster bombers, that is." Obviously, Uchiha would count amongst the eligible gentlemen of Konoha High, so to speak, but I didn't suggest him. I'm not sure why but something about the idea of Karin asking him out made me feel kind of weird.

"Oh jeez, I think I need some girlfriends," Karin sighed, "Anyway, I'm so over high school boys."  
"Ino," I said.  
"Just 'cause I'm over high school _boys_ doesn't mean -"  
"No, no, she could help you. Introduce you to her girlfriends, you know. Isn't that what this whole buddy scheme thing is about, helping each other?" I said.  
"Yeah, instead of develop a major rivalry with Sasuke Uchiha," she said, "I'll call her,"

She pulled out her cell and immediately began chatting away. She started heading downtown towards the posh area of the city, all the while gabbing on her phone.  
"FYI, driving while talking on the phone causes more accidents than speeding does," I pointed out. She flicked me her middle finger. Charming! A few minutes later, she pulled up outside the nicest looking condo I'd ever seen in my life. It looked huge - at least six bedrooms and it had a massive garden. I guessed this was Ino's house, where else would the head cheerleader live?

"You drive," Karin ordered, as high school royalty herself stepped into my stolen vehicle and rolled her eyes at me. Yeah, yeah - Ino thought I was trouble. Practically everyone at that school did. I guess I didn't help myself by looking rough and cussing people out but seriously, they shouldn't judge. The next half hour was comprised of me driving around at the speed limit, listening to 'girl chat'. I got to know more about waxing, cheer leading and the boys in our year than I ever wanted to.

"Hey Karin, did you ever think about joining the cheer squad?" I asked.  
"Oh, you'd be _perfect_!" Ino squealed, "That's such a good idea, Suigetsu!" I smirked at Karin. I'd said it as a joke to wind her up, but Ino had loved it. I could just picture Karin in that little pleated skirt and top with the dumb Konoha High School symbol across the front. I smirked some more.  
"Suigetsu! I know you're imagining me in a cheerleading outfit. Now stop!" Karin shouted and I burst out laughing.

The girls chatted more but this time I joined in, complaining about our least favourite teachers and comparing Kiri and Konoha Highs. Ino could hardly believe how much rougher it sounded, but Karin and I just shrugged. It wasn't nearly as bad as Oto High, where we met in freshman year.  
"We'd better pick Juugo up from b-ball practice soon," I said, heading towards school.  
"You drive your friends around? That's cute," Ino said, although frankly I didn't see anything cute about giving them a ride in our stolen Chevy Vette.

The basketball team were just heading out to the parking lot when we pulled in. Juugo was joking with the rest of them, giving Naruto a friendly punch on the shoulder. Sell-out. I beeped my horn in a little tune and they turned and stared. At Ino's instructions, I cut the engine off and we all got out. I think the girls were just trying to look cool in front of the basketball lads, but I didn't care about that; I'd had an idea. I remembered the look on Uchiha's face when he'd beaten me in that silly race the other night. Concentrated. Grinning. _Alive_. He had looked like he had truly had fun.

Uchiha hadn't come out yet; he was probably still styling his hair in the locker room so I jogged over to his Mazda and leant against the side. Gorgeous car. He noticed me as soon as he left the gym and hurried over, probably worried I'd chip his bodywork or something. It was ridiculous that a seventeen year old should have a car like this. His parents must be loaded.

"Hozuki," Uchiha greeted me. He headed to the drivers' side door, where I was leaning.  
"Hey Sasuke! You know this project is all about helping each other, right? You've been doing great helping me with my schoolwork. You never know, maybe I won't become a high school dropout and lead a life of petty crime, after all. But how about I help you? How about I teach you how to live a little, huh?" I asked cockily and paused for a second. I slid myself closer to him along the side of the car. "I know you're gonna love it," I finished in a quieter, teasing voice.

He considered this for a moment. Meanwhile, Naruto's booming voice filled the parking lot. "Don't forget guys, It's my party tomorrow and it'll be super-fun!" Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds, then stared at me. "Come to Naruto's party," he said. I grinned. This wasn't the response I'd been expecting, but I took it to mean at least partial acceptance of my offer. I sauntered back to my car, where Karin was looking at me curiously.  
"What was that all about?" she asked.  
"Nothing," I replied innocently.  
"Yeah, that sure looked like nothing," she said sarcastically.

I sat in the drivers' seat, cranked the engine and this time, let Uchiha Sasuke pull out in front of me.

* * *

***This French bit means: **

****

"_So, what did you do last weekend?" _Uchiha asked in a monotone.  
_"Nothing interesting, I was at work. I gut fish for a sushi bar. It's shit. And after, I nicked a car and was chased by some cops, it was close, but I don't give a fuck."  
_I replied in the same monotonous voice, "_And you, what did you do?"_

**Reviews appreciated :)**


	4. Revelations

**I couldn't get this chapter to sound right, no matter how I wrote it and I'm still not completely happy with it. Sasuke is so hard to write! **

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_SASUKE_

I was getting ready for Naruto's party. Naruto had been going on about it for weeks; about how good it would be, how much alcohol he would be drinking and how everybody was going to be there. His adoptive father had gone away for the weekend, leaving Naruto with a free house. I hoped that people didn't wreck the place too much; Naruto might have a really nice house, but it wouldn't look too great after lots of rowdy teenagers had been through it.

I stepped into the power shower in my en-suite bathroom and let the hot water run over my body, easing out the strain of basketball training. I stayed in the shower far longer than necessary and let myself think about the week's events. I remembered what Hozuki had said in the parking lot, about teaching me how to live a little. I had to admit, his suggestion had piqued my curiosity. What exactly did Hozuki have in mind? Was he going to attempt to turn me into a petty criminal like himself?

However, I was slightly offended: did Hozuki think I didn't have a life and that he needed to help me get one? I had a perfectly fine life, thank you very much: I had good grades, good friends, I was on the basketball team and a talented martial artist. I had a stable family, a career in business ahead of me and I'd never wanted for anything in my life. I could go to any college I wanted and I didn't have any criminal convictions. In many respects, I had more of a life than Hozuki.

Yet there was something about him that drew me in, made me want to find out more. I'd never felt this before but then I'd never met anyone like Suigetsu Hozuki before. Someone who wasn't in any way like me. All my high school friends came from similar backgrounds to me and those who didn't know me were slightly reverent of me because of my family. As for Hozuki, he was a totally different story, a dangerous new game. That was what everything was to him - a challenge. The question was, was I man enough to face that challenge? I had a feeling I was about to find out.

I stepped out of the shower feeling strangely relaxed and slipped into some black pants and a freshly ironed white shirt. I let my dark hair dry naturally and flicked it into its usual style. I found myself making more of an effort than I usually would and I wasn't sure why. It was just one of Naruto's parties; he had lots of them.

Which reminded me, why exactly had I invited Suigetsu Hozuki to the party? I'm sure Naruto wouldn't appreciate Kiri boys messing up his house and Hozuki would probably get into a fight with someone like Kiba Inuzuka.

After dinner, I drove over to Naruto's, stopping to pick up Sakura on the way. She slid into the front seat of my car, dressed to the nines for the party.  
"Are we picking up Ino as well?" I asked.  
"Nah, she's heading over with Karin and the Mist crowd: Jugo, and your buddy Suigetsu," she replied, checking her reflection in the sun visor mirror. That meant Suigetsu would be there, then. This pleased me more than I would have liked.

"Sasuke, are you ok?" Sakura asked. She sounded concerned.  
"Yes. Why?"  
"It's just you've been acting really strangely these last couple of weeks. There isn't something bothering you, is there?"  
"No. Everything's fine," I said.

After I had convinced Sakura of my general wellbeing, we pulled up at Naruto's. I could already hear loud music as I walked up the drive, past Naruto's big garden. He loved gardening and would be so pissed if someone got drunk and trashed his begonias. Inside, the music was even louder. I saw Neji Hyuuga on the stairs, looking pissed off. I followed his gaze and found out why: Naruto was clearly flirting with his cousin Hinata: he had an arm draped round her shoulders and she was giggling and blushing. I raised a sympathetic eyebrow at Neji and headed to the kitchen.

Maybe there was something wrong with me. I didn't know what it was, I just didn't find the idea of flirting with a girl attractive - I didn't like the idea of her giggling and blushing like Hinata, or flipping her hair and showing her cleavage like Ino. I knew there were lots of girls interested in me: even Sakura used to have quite the crush, but I just wasn't interested in any of them. I used to think it was because I hadn't met the right girl - but now I wasn't so sure. I was nearly 18 years old, I must have met some girl I found in any way attractive before now. Sakura for example, was nice, pretty, kind, clever, funny - all good qualities but there was something missing. There was no spark or attraction. I wondered what was missing. Hopefully, when I found it I'd know what I'd been looking for.

In the kitchen, I helped myself to a cup of beer and scanned the room for people I knew. Shikamaru was out the back having a cigarette and Kiba was hitting on Naruto's peer mentor Tenten. I wished him luck, given what I'd heard about that girl. There was no sign of Suigetsu, so I mingled a little. I was just chatting to my basketball team-mate Gaara and his sister Temari, when Kiba joined us.  
"Jeez, don't talk to Tenten. That chick's fucking nuts! She's got more knives than a fuckin' kitchen!" he complained.

Temari was just cussing him out, when someone grabbed me from behind round the neck, pulling me into a hug that felt more like a chokehold.  
"So this is how rich people party, huh?" a voice purred in my ear, "I'll let you go if you get me some beer,"  
"You're choking me Hozuki," I said, and he let go. I'd known it was him - who else would sneak up behind me like that? He grabbed my drink without asking and helped himself to a few large swigs.  
"Sorry! Just can't help get excited when I see my favourite peer mentor. Now how about some beer?" he said. He obviously wasn't content with just stealing my drink. He scanned the kitchen for a few moments then he looked me up and down.

"I didn't realise rich people dressed like d-bags for parties. What's with the fucking dress shirt, man?" he said. He was dressed, as usual, in one of those trashy wife-beaters, this one in purple. It showed off his muscular biceps.  
"Well I didn't realise Kiri people dressed like trash for parties. Although I guess it does come in handy if you want to commit some petty theft on your way home," I replied coldly. A white shirt was a classic piece. It was better than looking like a second rate rap artist.  
"Whatever. I didn't come here to listen to you trash-talk my t-shirt, pussy boy," Hozuki responded with a smirk.  
"Will you stop calling me a pussy?" I asked. It was a perfectly reasonable request. No-one spoke to me like that. Not even Naruto. And now Hozuki thought he could crash into my life and start insulting me.  
"I guess…when you stop being one," Hozuki replied. He gave me a cheeky grin, showing his pointed teeth. I rolled my eyes at him. It was pointless to get into an argument with him and I wasn't going to let him drag me down to his level. I turned away from him. It may have been slightly childish but I was trying to indicate my annoyance at him without resorting to petty insults. He shrugged and walked off to help himself to some beer.

I stared round the room for a few moments, allowing myself to take in my friends and classmates. Naruto and Hinata were dancing: he was twirling her round lightly while they held hands, laughing. Neji had obviously resigned himself to this and was talking to Tenten whose arms were folded, a pissed-off expression on her face. Shikamaru and his friend Chouji were sitting on a couch idly chatting and passing round a bowl of snacks. Lee and Kiba were having a competition to see who could do the most push-ups while Sakura and Ino looked on, laughing. I wasn't sure which group to join in with so I stood at the edge, watching.

Sai, the artist walked in and Hozuki's friend Karin left the group by the couch and oh-so-casually crossed the room to join him. Sai looked surprised, but not altogether disappointed. Karin put her hands on her hips and thrust her shoulders forward. This was a posture I'd noticed women tended to adopt when they wanted to emphasize their figures. Sure enough, Karin was sticking her chest out and Sai's line of sight occasionally wandered down her shirt. She smiled and flicked her hair - all part of the usual tricks girls pulled to try and gain attention. Sai was obviously pretty taken in by them all, but I just saw through them. I saw the awkward, chest-enhancing posture and thought it looked spine cricking and uncomfortable to stand that way. I saw the beaming smiles and the hair tossing and instead of finding it alluring, I thought it was incredibly distracting. When a girl swung her hips when she walked, I didn't find my eyes drawn to her ass, I just wondered why she was walking funny, or if she got something in her eye when she batted her eyelids. When I looked at a girl who I knew to be good-looking, I didn't see anything particularly appealing. Girls just looked normal to me.

Maybe this was why I'd never had a girlfriend. Because I didn't really see girls in that way. It was quite simple really. All I had to do was meet a girl I did see in that way. That would be easier said than done, and besides, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted a girlfriend anyway. Having one would probably be annoying.

Sai and Karin seemed to be getting on well, however. They had moved closer to each other and were talking quite animatedly. As I watched, Karin placed her hand on Sai's shoulder. They both giggled at a joke I couldn't quite hear. All I knew about Karin was that she was very loud, very common and very opinionated. She tended to get into lots of fights with Hozuki, mainly insulting him or pushing him around when he annoyed her. Which, knowing him, was probably often. I also thought she was kind of trashy from the way she dressed and her haircut. All in all, I thought, a typical Kiri chick.

Suigetsu wandered over. He nudged me in the back and then handed me a cup of beer. It was warm and flat but I thanked him and drank it anyway. He sipped on his own and stood next to me, without saying anything else. I pointed out the scene between Karin and Sai, who were now looking closer than ever. Suigetsu swore and said something I didn't quite catch about dangerous criminals and high school boys before storming over to the pair and confronting them. I rolled my eyes. He had absolutely no subtlety.

I joined my friends in the lounge soon after, leaving Suigetsu to sort things out with Karin. Naruto and Hinata were sitting on the couch together; Sakura, Ino and Kiba were chatting about cheerleading while Gaara's brother Kankurou was fiddling with something in his pocket. Tenten looked slightly less sour now and she was showing Neji her pocket collection of dangerous weapons. Lee and Jugo were talking enthusiastically about basketball. I wandered over to join Sakura's group and added my opinion that cheerleading was not, in fact, a real sport but just an opportunity for showing off. Sakura laughed lightly, then pulled me aside.

"He's cute, you know," she said quietly, "And it's not like you can't keep your eyes off him. Think about it." She tapped her temple and looked at me significantly, as if this display was supposed to mean something to me.  
"I'm sorry?" I said but she smiled an infuriatingly mysterious smile. I had _no_ idea what she was talking about.

Later, the party was in full swing with music blaring from the state-of-the-art sound system in Naruto's lounge. I'd had a few more beers but thankfully Sakura was my designated driver and had been drinking soft drinks all evening. Most people were in the lounge, dancing to the music. It was hot and I was fed up of barely being able to hear myself think so I slipped out of the room and out Naruto's back door. The cool night air hit me and I breathed in again. It had rained last night, but this evening was fresh and balmy. I sat down on the stone steps leading to the garden and looked at the sky. The moon was out and the city lights were lighting the sky. I thought about what Sakura had said. It would be a lot easier to understand if she had told me who she was talking about. I'd asked her again but she had just rolled her eyes and muttered something like 'obviously in denial'. I wasn't in denial about anything, I just didn't know what she meant.

I heard a strange gurgling sound a few minutes later, like someone finishing a drink with a straw. This was followed by light footsteps up the stone steps, a muttered curse of surprise upon seeing me sitting on the steps, silhouetted by the light from the house and finally, recognition.

"Oh….Sasuke…hi," It was Hozuki. He spoke in a soft voice, unlike any I had heard him use before. He plonked himself down next to me, nudging me with his elbow, "How come you're out here?"  
"I guess, It was hot and loud and bright in there. Sakura was confusing me and I needed some space to think," I replied.  
"Girls, eh?" he replied sympathetically with a half-smile that was gone as quickly as it appeared.  
"Sakura and I, we're not…" I trailed off. I needed to clarify that to him.

"No, I know. It's just girls confuse me too," he said with a shrug, "Like Karin, she just got dumped by this guy from Kiri who messed her around and then she was going out with this guy Deidara, who's got a bad rep for blowing up a mall and now she's all over that Sai, who's got this asshole vibe going on. I don't get it. There are plenty of nice boys, out there but she's just interested in the ones who're going to hurt her."  
I smiled wanly. Of course Karin would have been dating a bomber. Had I not realised it yet, this was further proof that Hozuki and his friends were mad.  
"Sai's not too bad. As far as I know he's never blown up a mall," I replied, which made Suigetsu smile, "But I guess you still worry for her, is that why you're wandering round in the dark?"  
"Yeah. You're gonna laugh at me," he said, "But I don't really like parties,"

"Why did you come tonight, then?" I asked. At times, everything about him confused me.  
"Because you asked me to," he said. He let his usual sardonic grin take over his face and it almost felt like he was mocking me.

I thought about what Sakura had said earlier. It suddenly became clear what she meant. _Oh_.

* * *

**Thank you for all your reviews so far :)**


	5. Idiot

SUIGETSU

It was a few days after Naruto's party and I was just sitting in the school cafeteria, eating and slurping noisily on my water. Karin and Jugo were on either side of me because we'd joined Jugo's basketball team and some of their friends at their lunch table. Karin and Ino were gossiping. Karin seemed to get on really well with her buddy scheme partner, which I thought was pretty cool. Hanging out with me and Jugo all the time meant she didn't have many girlfriends. I knew most of the Konoha girls thought she was a bit intimidating or trashy but even though she beat me up pretty much all the time, she was still my best girl. Ino, however, ignored whatever everyone said about us and spent lots of time hanging out with me and Karin while Jugo was at basketball.

It turned out that Sai, who Karin had been all over at Naruto's party was a bit of an enigma, even to the Konoha crowd. Nobody knew much about him except he was a good artist, a year older than the rest of us and that he called Naruto 'dickless'. I smirked a little at this. Either it said something about Sai or about the size of Naruto's manhood. I thought about it…maybe Naruto's exuberant personality was making up for something. Nah, it was probably naturally his personality. Hey, I wonder about Uchiha's. Oh god. I was thinking about Uchiha's dick. That probably wasn't normal.

Which reminded me, Uchiha had been acting really weird lately. Jugo had noticed it as well. He almost seemed to be avoiding me without trying to make it look like he was avoiding me. I wondered if it was something to do with the party. I had kind of opened up to him a bit which I don't think he had been expecting and since then he had been a bit funny. Weird, maybe he was too much of a 'man' to share emotions and that.

Uchiha arrived at the cafeteria with his friends Sakura and Naruto soon after. They sat down at the table opposite from ours and Uchiha was diagonally opposite me. As he ate his vom-inducing cafeteria food, I glanced at him. He didn't notice me looking at first, but when he did I smiled coyly then looked back down at my lunch tray. I did this a couple more times, teasing, until Uchiha started to look at me questioningly. I looked at him again with the same small smile and this time I didn't break my gaze. Uchiha stared back at me and I stared at him, keeping eye contact. Eventually, he looked away, a very slight touch of pink colouring his cheeks. Ha!

"Suigetsu!" Karin dug her elbow in to my ribs, which really freaking hurt by the way, "Stop eye-fucking him and get over there!" she hissed.  
Eye-fucking? This was obviously a word of Karin's own invention, but I could guess its meaning easily enough. I hadn't been doing that, had I? All I'd been doing was playing a little game with Uchiha. I always played games with him. After all, it was quite cute when he blushed, even though I hadn't expected it.  
"Suigetsu, I know you better than you know yourself so if I tell you've been eye-fucking someone, you've been eye-fucking them. Got it?" Karin snapped. She clapped me round the back of the head. I nodded, fearful what the scary lady might do next, "So the question you might like to think about now is why you were eye-fucking Sasuke Uchiha?" Karin continued, glaring at me.  
"Um…do you think you could call it something less rude?" I asked.  
"Suigetsu, don't try and play the innocent card with me, I know you're not offended by swearing," Karin replied, "Why were you eying up Sasuke?

I wasn't aware that I was eying Sasuke up, but that was probably what it looked like. I thought about that for a second and looked at him again. He was cute. More than cute actually. Sure, I'd been with guys before, but only when I was really drunk. I figured it was just an experimenting thing. Did that mean… I liked Sasuke Uchiha? Shit, that required some serious processing. I couldn't like Sasuke. He was so arrogant and that stick he had up his ass could really get on my nerves. Yeah, he was good looking and actually quite a nice, complex person. I guess it was because he was a mystery that I wanted to unravel that I found him so fascinating. That, and he was fun to wind up and if I knew him, this latest development would piss him off no end.

"Jugo, Karin….do you guys fancy cutting class with me this afternoon?" I asked. I couldn't face afternoon lessons after this discovery. The only thing that would help right now was cruising round in a car, windows down, music blasting and occasionally swigging on a cup of water. Jugo declined, apparently the big man had been getting all studious lately. Karin jumped at the chance because we'd been on good behaviour for weeks. Surprisingly, Ino wanted to come along as well as she'd ever skipped class before.

So there we were, in the Chevy Corvette with the radio on. Ino was a little bit scared of getting caught at first but she soon calmed down once we got away from school. Karin and I were arguing about where we were going but there was no real intent. I called up Kisame and put him on loudspeaker, to find out what he was doing,  
"Hey, Kisame-senpai. I got Karin and her girl Ino in the back and we're just heading into the Mist. What're you up to, my man?" I asked when he picked up.  
"Nothing really, kid. Just chilling out with a friend. Come pick us up and we can hang out for a bit," he replied  
"Sure thing," I hung up before turning to the girls and making a crap joke about 'man' phone calls.

We picked up Kisame and his friend, who was dark-haired and oddly familiar. He introduced himself as Itachi and insisted on calling shotgun, leaving Kisame grinning in the backseat between the two pretty high school girls. Ino looked vaguely disgusted at the somewhat fish-faced man but soon warmed to him when he started his repertoire of crap jokes.  
"I've probably said this before, but this is a nice ride you've got, Suigetsu," Kisame said, grinning, "But you probably won't be so chuffed with yourself when you find out who you nicked it from."  
"Go on then, enlighten me," I said sarcastically. In the rear-view, I could see Ino's shocked face. Oh yeah, me, the rough guy from Kiri had the loaded head cheerleader from Konoha High School in the backseat of my stolen vehicle. Boys would kill to be me, I'm telling you. It's a shame my attention was otherwise occupied by a certain Sasuke Uchiha.

"You see, I met up with an old friend earlier today and he kept grumbling about this red Vette he'd lost the other week. That kind of seemed familiar, but don't worry I didn't rat you out. You should probably give it back soon or Hidan will be cross," Kisame said.  
"HIDAN! This car is Hidan's? If that bastard finds out he'll probably sacrifice me to that crazy-ass god of his!" I snorted with laughter, surprisingly calm about my certain death. Itachi grinned too but I wasn't sure if he was laughing at my joke or he was just sadistic. Knowing Kisame's choices of friends I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was a murdering maniac.

"He won't find out, I think I waylaid him by telling him that Kakuzu had been mentioning something about trying to sell a 'Vette," Kisame replied.  
"That'll have pissed him off, nice one senpai. Well, you can tell Hidan that if he's stupid enough to leave it illegally parked with the engine running and keys in the ignition in the dodgy end of Kiri then he deserves to get it pinched," I replied.  
"That is true. Hidan always was a bit foolish," Itachi spoke for the first time. He was definitely familiar and I had no recollection of having met him before.

"You got that right Itachi. So how come you lot are cutting class again? I thought you'd stopped all that. You know you'll never graduate if you don't buck your ideas up," Kisame said.  
"Thanks for getting all sanctimonious, Mom," Karin answered sarcastically. I was secretly pleased to see her bash Kisame about the head - at least I wasn't the only one who got that kind of treatment from her, "We're skipping because Suigetsu's gay," she finished.

"No, I'm not," I replied tersely. Kisame and Ino both raised their eyebrows in shock. Thinking about it, I could have passed Karin's words off as a cheap insult and laughed it off, but reacting badly only proved my apparent 'gayness'.  
"Oh yeah? You hear that Itachi? He reckons his brother's gay as well. So who's the lucky guy then?" Kisame questioned, once he'd recovered from his initial shock.  
"It's just my buddy scheme partner. Typical Konoha rich kid, you know, nice car, good grades, student council rep, that kind of thing. I find him…interesting," I said. Interesting just about covered it.  
"When's the hot date?" Kisame asked. I could see from the rear-view that he was sticking his tongue out.  
"Um, how about never? If he finds out about this, he'll eat my grilled flesh with fine wine and green fucking beans! Or whatever rich people eat…" I shouted, suddenly angry, "Karin, Ino! If you guys so much as think of telling Sasuke then I'll….I'll…." I threatened uselessly.

Itachi was suddenly looking pensive.  
"Sasuke?" he said, his voice betraying no emotion, "That's my brother."

FUCK! I jumped on the brakes and the Vette squealed to a halt. This was _not_ good. This was worse than the time I got arrested and Kisame had to bail me out. This was worse than the time those guys pulled guns on us in Kiri. This was worse than the time my mom kicked me out for a week. This was really, really fucking bad.

I could barely hear Ino and Karin screaming at me from the backseat, or Kisame's inappropriate laughter. I barely noticed that I'd essentially parked the stolen car in the middle of the road.  
"Uh, Itachi-san?" I asked nervously, "You won't tell him, will you? Because if you did, he'd probably kill me? Would you really want my death on your conscience? I'm far too young to die and poor Karin would barely cope without me, she'd be devastated, she's so fragile and innocent…" I stopped, when Karin kicked me in the back of the head, "OW! What the hell was that for, you fucking bitch?"

Suddenly, chaos broke loose in the car. Kisame began yelling at Karin for kicking me in the head. Ino began yelling at me because apparently she used to have a thing for Sasuke, Karin started yelling at Kisame for always taking my side, I was yelling at Karin for kicking me in the head, Ino was sticking up for Karin, Kisame was calling Karin a bitch, Ino was yelling at me because she couldn't believe I was gay, I yelled at her because I wasn't 'gay', Kisame was calling her homophobic, Karin was calling him a wanker and _everyone_ was calling me an idiot.

Meanwhile, Itachi stared straight ahead. He sat in stony silence ignoring our display. He reached over and beeped the horn several times. As quickly as it began, the pandemonium stopped. We all looked at each other with embarrassed faces. Sure, Karin and I carried on like that most of the time but Kisame was normally calmer and Ino was far too much of a good girl to start cussing people out like that.  
"Um, Suigetsu…" Karin said sheepishly, "You might like to start driving again sometime. We're stopped in the middle of the road, idiot." I looked round and sure enough there was a queue of traffic behind us, angrily leaning on their horns.

Itachi rolled his eyes. He never did answer the question about whether he would tell Sasuke or not. I silently prayed, although he didn't exactly look like the merciful type. Shit, I was totally screwed. That's when I knew what I'd have to do about this predicament I'd got myself into. I couldn't think of Sasuke in that way. He probably didn't even like boys anyway and even if he did, why would he like me? He was an elite Konoha boy and I was rough stuff from Kiri. Never gonna happen. Plus, he wasn't the type who'd take to kindly to boys lusting after him. I couldn't think about him. I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't play my little games with him.

I would just have to go to our buddy sessions as usual, pretending everything was normal. And then secretly mourn for what might have been. I imagined grazing my teeth along the pale skin of his neck. I imagined the cool feel of his hand in mine, or running a finger down his well defined muscles. I imagined our lips moving in synch, my hands through his hair, shirtless, sweating. _Hot_. I could feel the reaction building in my lower body and hastily banished all thoughts from my head. I focused on the road, ignoring my passengers.

After a while, I dropped Itachi off in Konoha. He hadn't said anything else the entire journey and as he got out the car, I prayed he wouldn't tell Sasuke. Soon afterwards, I dropped Ino and Karin at Ino's swanky condo. There was just Kisame and me left in the car.  
"What's Karin's friend called again?" Kisame asked as we pulled off the drive.  
"Ino," I replied.  
"Huh. She's pretty cute," he said.  
"Oh no! You did not just say that! She's seventeen and you're what, nearly thirty? Karin will kill you if she finds out you think that!" I said.  
"Well, we'll just have not tell her then," Kisame said, totally unbothered. I wish I felt like that.

"Will Itachi kill me? Honestly?" I asked, fearful for the answer.  
"Probably not. It's not exactly his business, is it? But then, he was never known for his sweet disposition. You'll be alright, kid," Kisame said, lost in thought.  
"Thanks, senpai," I replied. I remained unconvinced.

I had to drop Kisame in Suna, on the other side of town. Apparently he wanted to deliver something to his friend Sasori who lived there. Sasori creeped me out. He was always threatening to turn me into a human puppet, whatever that was, and it sounded like he was only half joking. Thinking about it, most of Kisame's friends were really weird. There was Sasori and Deidara, Karin's mad herbal essences-loving bomber, who were both in Akatsuki as well as the religious nut Hidan and that money grabbing Kakuzu. I wondered where Itachi Uchiha fit into all of this.

As I was driving through Konoha, I decided to stop and get a drink. I parked the Vette, figuring I'd only be a couple of minutes and headed into the nearest fast food place. Armed with a supersize cup of cool liquid, I headed back to the car. As I jogged across the road, I noticed someone leaning against my car. A shirtless someone holding what looked like a massive fucking axe.

Oh shit. As if my day could get any worse. I was about to be sacrificed by a religious nut-job with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Hidan did _not_ look happy. I smiled easily at him and blinked slowly.  
"Alright, Hidan?" I greeted him casually. He fumed with anger. I could just picture him putting that scythe through my skull. I really wasn't in the mood for a fight with this bloodthirsty maniac and I was technically in the wrong. I let him punch me in the face, before handing over the keys. I flashed him a grin as he jumped in the front seat, grumbling. Hidan tried to run me over as he backed the car on to the road again. Bastard.

I sighed deeply. In hindsight, I could have put up a bit more of a fight for 'my' car, but I didn't really feel like it. Not only did I have to deal with my Sasuke problem but I also had the problem that I was stuck in Konoha without a ride. I thought about my options. Walking home was too far. I couldn't see any bus stops or metro stations nearby. There was nobody I knew who had a car who would be willing to pick me up.

Ino was in Konoha but she didn't have a driving licence. There was Naruto, but I didn't know him very well. In fact, the only person who I knew in Konoha was Uchiha…. Damnit. I had no other option.

I got out my mobile phone and dialled Sasuke's number. While it rang, it felt like forever waiting for him to pick up. I didn't want to do this.

* * *

**Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. Thank you :)**


	6. Orange Juice

**After I took a hiatus for about three million years, I am back! Sorry to my readers, hope this makes up for it!**

**Because this is Non-massacre AU, I have played with Sasuke and Itachi's characters a bit. **

**Standard disclaimers: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

SASUKE

I'd had a long and kind of shitty day at school. I got questions wrong in biology and I hadn't done my maths homework. This was so unlike me and worse of all I couldn't really bring myself to care. I unlocked my front door, slid my well-polished Italian shoes off and felt the cool marble floor beneath my feet. I sighed. Suigetsu hadn't turned up for our buddy session today, which had put me in a bad mood all afternoon, so much so that I was now skipping the student council meeting.

I hadn't expected anyone to be home, but I heard a noise from the kitchen. My parents were away on business, and Itachi's car wasn't on the drive. A fleeting thought crossed my mind that someone had broken in to our house. Angrily, I crossed the long hallway to the kitchen, wondering if Suigetsu had finally crossed the line and started committing acts of burglary. I threw the kitchen door open to see Itachi sitting by the window drinking my orange juice and smoking a cigarette. He was just hanging up a phone call to his friend Kisame.

"What's the hurry, little brother?" he drawled, tapping ash out the window.  
"That's my orange juice," I replied coldly  
"Now, now, little brother. How about a nice hello?" Itachi said with a smirk. I could see the empty orange juice carton in the bin. Fucking asshole. "Itachi, what are you doing here? Aren't you meant to be on campus?" I snapped."I came here just to see you," he replied, still smirking. He got up from his perch by the window to flick me on the forehead.  
"You know Mom's gonna kill you if she finds out you were smoking inside," I told him crossly. I opened the fridge and helped myself to a can of soda, when what I really wanted was orange juice.  
"Mom's not here," Itachi blew out a stream of smoke  
"I wish you weren't here," I said crossly, "Why _are_ you here?"

"I just popped by to say that Kisame's having a party Friday night. You're invited."  
"Why is Kisame inviting me to his party? He knows I don't hang out with the Akatsuki lot," I sighed  
"Forget what you think you know about the Akatsuki, little brother" Itachi said darkly. I rolled my eyes and sipped my Coke. I'd long suspected Itachi was involved with them, and it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would.  
"Anyway, he says you can bring some friends," Itachi continued, with a teasing smirk, "How about that nice kid Suigetsu?"  
"How do you know about Suigetsu?" I snapped.  
"I met him this afternoon,"  
"Oh yeah?" I said as casually as possible.  
"Yeah. He gave me and Kisame a ride after class in this stolen sports car. That Ino girl who used to be madly in love with you was there, with this trashy redhead chick,"  
"Right," I said, still feigning boredom. I was trying not to act like I was remotely interested in what Suigetsu was doing.  
"He mentioned you, you know?" Itachi continued.  
"Really," I said dully, "What did he say?"  
"You'll have to ask him. I think you'll find it _interesting_ though,"

"Whatever," I replied, "I have stuff to do. Shut the door on your way out." I stomped up the stairs to my bedroom, trying to ignore my quickening heartbeat. Did Suigetsu know I liked him? And had he told Itachi? No, that was silly - why would anyone willingly hold a conversation about feelings with my brother? I idly fiddled with my phone for a few moments, debating whether to call Sakura or Naruto for their advice. Naruto would be no help in a situation like this and Sakura would be too busy smugly giggling about how right she was. I was on my own on this one.

Sighing, I pulled out my French homework and meticulously wrote out a few verb conjugations. My mind wandered to one of my many afternoons spent doing schoolwork with Suigetsu, listening to his terrible French pronunciation, peppered liberally with swearwords that I didn't seem to remember being part of the syllabus. His teeth had shown underneath his curling lip as he mis-pronounced 'merde'. Part of me had wanted to lose all patience with his dreadful accent, while the rest had wanted to furiously kiss the smirk off his face and feel those sharp teeth against my lips. My wandering imagination was interrupted by my phone ringing.

It was Suigetsu. Of course it would be.  
"Yes?" I said, but it didn't come out as crossly as I'd hoped it would.  
"Sasuke, is that you?" he demanded.  
"No, it's Madara Uchiha," I replied angrily.  
"Oh," Suigetsu paused, contemplating this for a few seconds, "Then can you put Sasuke on?"  
"For crying out loud, are you really that dense? It's my phone, who did you think it would be?!" I smirked.  
"Oh you bastard, thank god you answered!" he sounded breathless, "I need some help! You see, I lost my car and -"

"You lost your car?" I said incredulously, failing to see how anybody could lose a car, especially a bright red sports car. I was trying to ignore the thoughts I was having at the sound of his breathless voice.  
"Well, the guy who owns it nicked it back off me and he's a religious nutter and he had a massive fucking axe and he was probably going to sacrifice me to his gods and seeing as it was his in the first place it was probably a good idea to give it back. Anyway, I'm stuck on the wrong side of Konoha and I need a ride," Suigetsu blabbered.

"Okay," I sighed, "Where are you?" He told me and I cut the call over his jabbered thank-yous.

I must be mad, I thought to myself as I slipped on my jacket and shoes. Here I was, skipping student council meetings and heading off across town to rescue the object of my dirty desires from a very angry man with an axe. Unlikely as it was to actually happen, I thought about having sex with Suigetsu, as I drove. The naked, sweaty, hot parts were turning me on, until I wondered about whose cock would be going up whose ass. It all seemed a big jump for my rather prudish self.

I got stuck in traffic on the way and Suigetsu rang me again.  
"Where are you?" he demanded like an impatient child.  
"I'm in a traffic queue," I replied, "I won't be long,"  
"You know, the French word for 'ass' is 'queue'," he said and I could hear the smirk in his voice.  
"You rang me up to tell me that?" I asked, deadpan.  
"Yep,"  
"You're pronouncing it wrong, and anyway, it's 'cul',"  
"I don't care, I just wanted to hear your reaction to the word ass,  
"God, I get frustrated with you," I said. I was slightly aware that I was flirting with him  
"Do you mean sexually frustrated?" he asked, laughing. I hung up on him.

When I rounded the corner to where he said he'd be, I saw a metro station about five hundred metres away. Suigetsu was sitting against a concrete bollard. He had a bloody nose and blood on the front of his shirt as well as bruising around his eye. Yet he was still grinning all over his face. As he slid into the passenger seat, I wordlessly pointed out the metro stop to him. He shrugged, grinning, before winking at me. Winking hurt his obviously sore eye, so he winced and swore. This situation would have been funny, but I was busy worrying that he would get blood on the pristine upholstery in my Mazda. I fished a tissue out of my glove compartment and gently dabbed the blood from his face. He never broke eye contact with me.

"That'll bruise. I've got some Arnica," I said softly, and when he looked confused I added, "Bruise cream. At my house,"  
"We're going to yours? Can I drive?" Suigetsu asked excitedly. He did not in the least seem to have the air of someone who had just been beaten up and threatened with an axe.

"Are you serious? You've just had your car stolen and you're seriously asking if you can drive mine? You drive like a fucking nutcase anyway,"  
"Mean," Suigetsu pouted.  
"Another time," I conceded, "Or maybe never,"

On the journey across town, Suigetsu criticised my driving at every opportunity, saying I was going too fast or too slowly or that I was a pussy and general words to that effect. Eventually, I let him fiddle with the stereo, but only to shut him up, I told myself. The car felt oddly claustrophobic with both of us there and I could almost feel the sexual tension in the atmosphere.

"So here's the deal," Suigetsu said, "My friend Kisame's having a party on Friday night. Wanna go? Or we could just hang out, or something…?" He trailed off, and if I didn't know him better, I would have thought Hozuki Suigetsu, the cockiest person I knew, was sounding a little unsure of himself.  
"Sure," I replied, "Actually, my brother Itachi already mentioned it. He said he met you this afternoon"  
"Oh, really? Did he say anything else?" he asked in a very forced casual tone.  
"No, but he did say that I'd find something you said interesting," I replied. I noticed Suigetsu looked relieved by this answer.

As I pulled onto my drive I asked him what he'd been talking about with Itachi. Suigetsu didn't answer, and he even looked a little embarrassed - very unusual for him. There was something strange going on here, but it couldn't be nearly as bad as my massive crush on him.  
"Come on, you can tell me anything, I'm your buddy scheme partner, remember?" I teased, unlocking the front door.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd be more than that," Suigetsu mimicked my teasing tone. Now it was my turn to be lost for words, but thankfully I was interrupted by Itachi asking if I'd bought some more orange juice. He greeted Suigetsu with a conspiratorial wink, which caused him to blush and swear through his pointed, clenched teeth.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds in peace, shall I?" Itachi said in a high-pitched, mocking voice. He sauntered out the front door, already talking on his cellphone.  
"Don't come back without more orange juice, you asshole," I yelled after him. I heard a squealing of tyres on the drive and looked out the window to the see the absolute bastard driving off in MY car. He hadn't even asked to borrow it and now he was effectively leaving me trapped in my own home with Suigetsu.

"Can I have an orange juice?" Suigetsu asked, grinning like a weirdo.  
"How about you fuck off?" I smirked. Undeterred, he wandered down the hall and into the kitchen, picking stuff up and putting it back in the wrong place, opening cupboards and nosing around. I was close to losing my patience with his lack of respect, but I remembered he lived in a tatty flat in Kiri, worlds apart from my comfortable existence. Suddenly, something caught his attention out the kitchen window, and he nearly dropped the tin of beans he had been taking out of the kitchen store cupboard.

"Coooooooll!" he yelled, charging out the back door. Rolling my eyes, I followed him. He'd already yanked his shirt over his head, revealing his lean muscles. He discarded it on the ground, and before I knew it he had unbuckled his belt and dropped his trousers. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his tight boxers, and I tried not to stare at his fascinating v-muscle. He began to pull his under wear down, before hesitating and looking sheepishly at me.

"Need I ask why you're stripping in my back garden?" I demanded, mildly annoyed by his antics. Suigetsu quickly hoiked up his boxers, and looked around to check nobody was watching, his reactions almost comical.  
"You've got a swimming pool," he explained excitedly, "Can I? Please Sasuke!"  
I nodded and without a moment's hesitation he jumped in inelegantly, creating an extremely large splash. He paddled around for a bit, shouting for joy.  
"Come in!" he demanded, "If you don't, I'll just splash you,"

I didn't doubt that for a second, so I stepped back from the edge, out of splashing range. But then something about his joyful grin, his half-naked body and the way the early evening sun glinted off his wet hair tempted me. Before I knew it, I too was shedding my clothes, albeit in a much more restrained way than Suigetsu. He stared at me as I sauntered calmly to the edge of the pool, his eyes taking in my bare chest and legs. He watched as I dived in gracefully and swam towards him.

Fuck it, I thought.


End file.
